Terrapins Insider - The Washington Post's in-depth coverage of University of Maryland sports - March 1, 2009

Terps Close Regular Season With 68-63 Loss At Virginia

The body language said it all. Whether it was Gary Williams with his lips pursed and his eyes down or Greivis Vasquez with his shoulders slumped and his gaze distant, it was clear the Terps knew they let one get...

By Steve Yanda | March 7, 2009; 7:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Kim Rodgers: Maryland's "Secret Weapon"

GREENSBORO, N.C.—Four players scored in double-figures for Maryland today in its 95-84 victory over North Carolina in the ACC tournament semifinals. Three were not a surprise: first team all-ACC seniors Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver had 29 and 25 points,...

By Camille Powell | March 7, 2009; 5:55 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Women's basketball
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Terps Advance to ACC Women's Final

By Camille Powell Washington Post Staff Writer GREENSBORO, N.C., March 7 — Maryland seniors Marissa Coleman and fellow senior Kristi Toliver have made no secret of their desire to win an ACC tournament title, the one thing that has eluded...

By Matthew Rennie | March 7, 2009; 3:27 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Women's basketball
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Burney's Road To Recovery Could Be Long

On Thursday, the team announced that sophomore forward Jerome Burney would miss the remainder of the season due to a broken sesamoid bone in his right foot. When I heard the news, several questions immediately came to mind: What on...

By Steve Yanda | March 7, 2009; 11:03 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Men's basketball
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For Milbourne, It's All In The Start

It's been a rough couple of weeks on the court for junior forward Landon Milbourne. He has scored six or fewer points and grabbed four or fewer rebounds in three of the last four games. He also has fouled out...

By Steve Yanda | March 7, 2009; 8:11 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Terps Women Need Comeback to Advance

From Camille Powell: So much over the past month came so easily for the top-seeded Maryland women’s basketball team, that it seemed as if they would step onto the Greensboro Coliseum court against a team it had blown out earlier...

By Matthew Rennie | March 6, 2009; 4:59 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Women's basketball
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Kristi Toliver Named ACC Player of the Year

Senior Kristi Toliver was named the ACC player of the year today, marking the second straight season that a Terrapin has taken home the league's top individual honor; former teammate Crystal Langhorne earned the award last year. Toliver is second...

By Camille Powell | March 6, 2009; 2:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Women's basketball
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GW's Thoughts On Virginia

Near the end of Gary Williams's chat with the media a little while ago he was asked if he'd noticed the Cavaliers doing anything differently since the last time the Terps played them. "They're playing a lot of players, a...

By Steve Yanda | March 6, 2009; 12:50 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Shutting Down Sylven

Before Maryland's first meeting with Virginia back in January, I spoke with Cavaliers Coach Dave Leitao and asked him what had contributed to freshman guard Sylven Landesberg's early success at the collegiate level. Leitao said two things set Landesberg apart...

By Steve Yanda | March 6, 2009; 10:25 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Maryland Women Open ACC Tournament Play

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Good morning from Greensboro, where the top-seeded Maryland women will face off against ninth-seeded Wake Forest at 3 p.m. this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament. I'll be online at 11 a.m. to take your...

By Camille Powell | March 6, 2009; 9:10 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Women's basketball
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Catching Up With The Cavaliers

Virginia has undergone several lineup changes since it lost to Maryland on Jan. 20. In fact, only one starter remains, and he's been struggling of late. The Cavaliers are 9-17 and have won just twice in 11 games since falling...

By Steve Yanda | March 6, 2009; 7:26 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Taylor Gets Another Year

Maryland's Richard Taylor will be back next year. Here is the release from Maryland: COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Maryland defensive back Richard Taylor has been awarded one more year of eligibility by the NCAA. Taylor missed virtually all of the...

By Eric Prisbell | March 5, 2009; 5:26 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Football
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Important: The $49 Bus Ticket to Storrs

Hello, everyone. This is Eric Prisbell. Sorry, I’ve been so busy over the past two days I never posted about the healthy dialogue I had with a veteran Gary guy at halftime of the Wake Forest game. I know this...

By Eric Prisbell | March 5, 2009; 12:51 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (22)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Burney Done For The Season

Sophomore forward Jerome Burney will miss the remainder of the season due to a broken sesamoid bone in his right foot, a team spokesman said in an email release. Burney returned to action Feb. 17 at Clemson after missing most...

By Steve Yanda | March 5, 2009; 12:46 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Misdirection Only A First Half Charm For Terps

Part of the reason for Maryland's success early in Tuesday night's game against Wake Forest was the misdirection it used to draw and and subsequently fool several Demon Deacon defenders. For all of its superior size and athleticism, Wake Forest...

By Steve Yanda | March 5, 2009; 10:41 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Up And Down Night For Vasquez

Tuesday night's game started out well for junior guard Greivis Vasquez. Assuming primary ball-handling duties, Vasquez conducted the offense efficiently, setting up teammates with those flashy no-look passes and setting up himself with creative drives to the basket. He finished...

By Steve Yanda | March 5, 2009; 7:23 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Lynetta Kizer Named ACC Rookie of the Year

Center Lynetta Kizer joined an elite group of Terrapins today as she was named the ACC rookie of the year. She is the sixth Maryland player to be so honored, joining current teammate Marissa Coleman (2006), as well as Crystal...

By Camille Powell | March 4, 2009; 4:13 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Women's basketball
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Teague Gets Bucket And Charge

The final score of last night's contest seperated Maryland from Wake Forest, the No. 10 team in the nation, by two points. The Terps were one basket from sending the game into overtime or even winning it outright. And since...

By Steve Yanda | March 4, 2009; 3:28 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Familiar Occurence Hurts Terps

For an instant, it appeared Maryland would get off to a promising start to the second half last night. Landon Milbourne made up for a Dave Neal turnover by blocking the shot attempt of Wake Forest guard L.D. Williams. The...

By Steve Yanda | March 4, 2009; 1:08 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Terps Start Slow After Halftime

The Terps thought they had rid themselves of this nasty habit. They figured by this point in the season they simply had grown out of it. But just as they had done during several other games this year, the Terps...

By Steve Yanda | March 4, 2009; 10:09 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Wake's 1-3-1 Zone Defense Causes Terps Headaches

Wake Forest defenders proved susceptible in the first half to wandering away from their assigned men in attempts to provide help on whichever Terp had the ball. Maryland players noticed as much and simply passed to their suddenly open teammates....

By Steve Yanda | March 4, 2009; 7:00 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Terps Fall To Wake Forest, 65-63

Maryland controlled the game for much of the first half by hounding Wake Forest into a rash of turnovers and just plain out-hustling the Demon Deacons to loose balls and open space. But in the second half, the Terps wore...

By Steve Yanda | March 4, 2009; 12:35 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (14)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Burney In A Boot ... Again

If you were wondering why sophomore forward Jerome Burney did not play a single minute Sunday night at N.C. State after solid performances in the previous two outings, it was because his right foot is bothering him once again. Burney...

By Steve Yanda | March 3, 2009; 8:14 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (8)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Kizer Named to the ACC All-Freshman Team

Maryland center Lynetta Kizer was named to the ACC All-Freshman team today, and will find out tomorrow if she will be honored as the league's rookie of the year (she was the preseason pick). Kizer, a 6-foot-4 center, is averaging...

By Camille Powell | March 3, 2009; 4:20 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Women's basketball
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Three Questions

Big game for the Terps tonight. A win could go a long way toward locking up an NCAA tournament bid. A loss puts Maryland behind the eight ball once again. Here are three questions I think will be key to...

By Steve Yanda | March 3, 2009; 3:52 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Clips From Tobacco Road

Junior guard Greivis Vasquez drew the ire of many fans in attendance Sunday night when he sank a three-pointer at the buzzer -- with the Terps already up by eight points. But he apologized afterward for taking the shot and...

By Steve Yanda | March 3, 2009; 10:41 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (32)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Scouting Wake Forest

There's no question the Demon Deacons possess one of the biggest frontcourts in the ACC. With three starters standing 6-foot-9 or taller, Wake Forest has the ability to control a game on most nights from the inside out. The Demon...

By Steve Yanda | March 3, 2009; 7:36 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (5)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Toliver and Coleman Named to All-ACC First Team

It's a good day for D.C.-area women's basketball, as the all-ACC women's team was announced. Four of the five first-team honorees have local ties: Maryland's Marissa Coleman (St. John's) and Kristi Toliver, and Virginia's Lyndra Littles (Carroll) and Monica Wright...

By Camille Powell | March 2, 2009; 4:38 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Women's basketball
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Under Armour Statement

Hello, everyone. This is Eric. Under Armour has issued a statement. I may have more a little later today after I make a few calls. Busy day. “Under Armour has been servicing collegiate athletics since our inception in 1996 and...

By Eric Prisbell | March 2, 2009; 2:35 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (15)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Emotion Evident In Terps Win

With little more than five minutes remaining last night and the Terps up by two, Greivis Vasquez set a screen for Dave Neal on the wing, and the senior forward drilled a three pointer. The basket elicited a huge fist...

By Steve Yanda | March 2, 2009; 1:25 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Under Armour Story

Hello, this is Eric Prisbell again. I have received some questions from readers and wanted to post this response, which I have been sending to several readers this morning: Thank you for the e-mail. I respect your opinion and appreciate...

By Eric Prisbell | March 2, 2009; 12:10 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (26)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Lowe on GV: 'He's Clever'

After last night's game, N.C. State Coach Sidney Lowe said he was experiencing a sensation he had not felt in a while. His team had shown improvement in recent weeks. The Wolfpack had a adapted to a style of player...

By Steve Yanda | March 2, 2009; 10:37 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (6)
Categories: Men's basketball
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N.C. State's Ball-handling Struggles Aid Terps

One unforeseen variable last night was the Wolfpack’s propensity to turn the ball over. In recent weeks, N.C. State’s coaching staff praised the development of the team’s ball-handling ability. But last night, the Wolfpack’s decision-making was poor and its capacity...

By Steve Yanda | March 2, 2009; 7:18 AM ET | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Terps Prevail Over N.C. State, 71-60

The Terps were well aware of how important tonight's game was in terms of holding onto their NCAA tournament hopes, and it appeared from the outset that the chips were stacked against them. N.C. State recently had switched to a...

By Steve Yanda | March 1, 2009; 11:02 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (13)
Categories: Men's basketball
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ACC Women's Tournament Pairings Announced

The Maryland women won their first ACC regular season title since 1989 with their 89-64 win at Miami today, and they'll be the top seed in the tournament, which begins on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C. The Terrapins will play either...

By Camille Powell | March 1, 2009; 8:15 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (11)
Categories: Women's basketball
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UMD Athletic Department's Statement Regarding Recruiting Story

A short while ago, the Maryland athletic department posted the below statement on its website. Regarding a potential secondary violation involving Byron Mouton's contact with recruit Lance Stephenson at a Jan. 31 home game against Miami, such an infraction likely...

By Steve Yanda | March 1, 2009; 7:09 PM ET | Permalink | Comments (54)
Categories: Men's basketball
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Terrapins Insider: March 1, 2009 - March 7, 2009